


Windy Cities and Faulty Electronics

by QuarkInShiningArmour



Series: Lecturers in Scotland AU [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Professor AU, Slow Burn, ThorBruce Week
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-06-23 00:37:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15594366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuarkInShiningArmour/pseuds/QuarkInShiningArmour
Summary: Thor's starting his new job at the university and is a little too enthusiastic trying to make a good first impression.  Thankfully, it works on a certain multi-talented physics professor.University Professor AUWritten for Thorbruce week, Day 6





	1. What's the point of sleep, anyway?

**Author's Note:**

> If enough people enjoy this, I'll write a whole big multichapter continuation after Thorbruce week.

To say that Thor was excited would have been putting it mildly.  It was his first day at his new job, the first time he was going to be a lecturer, have his own class, plan his own course.  The clock read 6:30am and his class started at 10am.  He’d been up since half five, unable to get back to sleep with anticipation, and had already worked through all his preparation, got washed and dressed, packed his bag.  Now all there was left to do was wait. 

Thor bounced his leg up and down on ground, fidgeting.  _So what if I arrive a little early_? he thought.  _No one’s ever been punished for arriving early to work._

He set off, slipping into his favourite red coat as he closed the door behind him.  The sky was still a little dim as he made his way to the lecture theatre.  Even in early September, the famous Scottish winds were making themselves known.  Thor laughed at his hair blowing right into his mouth as he crossed over Edinburgh Waverly station. Flicking it out his face, Thor took the time to appreciate the view of the castle. 

_Loki didn’t lie when he said Scotland would be a more elegant place to live than Pasadena._

He was glad he’d followed his brother’s advice and picked this job over the offer Caltech had made him.  Caltech might have more cutting-edge research, but for Thor it was all about teaching, getting the opportunity to share (and hopefully pass on) his enthusiasm. 

Checking the directions on his phone every couple of seconds, Thor made his way to the campus, to the building where his first lecture was to be.

Outside of the hall, on a screen, was the timetable for the lecture theatre for the day.  Thor panned down until he detected his own name.  “Dr Thor Odinson, Introductory Electromagnetism, 10:00”, the timetable read, and Thor felt himself swell with pride.

He pushed the door open and made his way up to the stage, smiling around at how big the room was, how many people he would be able to teach. 

“Ouch!”  Thor head a voice come from a curtain behind him.  “Aww, great.”  The voice sounded sarcastic and was definitely American.

He pulled the curtain back apprehensively.  Thor still couldn’t see anyone. 

“Hello?” he called.  No response.  Going further behind the curtain, Thor noticed some legs and feet poking out from under a technical control box.

“Hello?” Thor repeated.

The figure bashed their head up on the bottom of the box in surprise.

“Oww, that’s the second time I’ve done that in a minute.”

“I’m sorry.” Thor backed off, apologizing.  The person took themselves out from under the box, sitting up to face Thor.

“No, no, don’t apologize, I probably would have been equally clumsy without you being here.”  The man talking to Thor was probably in his forties, having many frown lines, but he had a kind face, the sort that put Thor at ease.  He held out his hand.  “I’m Bruce, Professor Bruce Banner.”  He smiled to Thor and Thor found himself smiling back instinctively.  It took him a second before he realised he had left Bruce’s hand hanging, and so he took it and shook it vigorously.

“Thor Odinson,” he replied.

“Dr Odinson?  The new physics lecturer?”

Thor nodded proudly.

“I read your paper on the effects of the magnetic fields created by lightning, it was incredible.”  Bruce was still shaking his hand.  Wanting to spare him the embarrassment of Bruce realising he hadn’t let go of the handshake, Thor placed his other hand on top of Bruce and gave it an appreciative squeeze before letting go and responding.

“Thank you!” Thor glowed.  _Banner, where do I know that name?_ He stood to attention as it clicked.

“You’re Bruce Banner?  The famed polymath professor?”

Bruce nodded bashfully.

“I wouldn’t say ‘famed’, I think it’s only really academics who know who I am.”

“You’re amazing!  Your research on the effects of radioactivity on the aging process of lobsters was fantastic!  And your paper on how topology can affect the formation of clouds was inspired!  The way you link your areas of expertise to give a different approach to a subject – It’s not like any other researcher I’ve ever known.  You truly can do anything.”  Bruce blushed, giving what he hoped was a gracious smile, but it looked more like a grimace.  He ran his fingers nervously through his hair.  _Sweet soft curls.  Wonder how they would feel to run my fingers through._

“Apparently one thing I can’t do is fix this sound system.”  He gestured to the electronics behind him.

“I can help you with that, it’s no trouble, I’m good with electronics.”  Thor reached over to the system. “What seems to be the problem?”

“The mic is amplifying my voice, but there’s a lot of interference, and it’s supposed to be able to record so that students can rewatch the lecture, but it doesn’t seem to be recording.”

“Okay,” Thor grinned.  “Let’s see what I can do.”  He dived under the box and set to work. 

It only took him a couple of minutes of taking things out and plugging them back in the right place before Thor the system was fixed.

“Done!” declared Thor as he pulled himself to his feet.

“Thank you,” Bruce said looking grateful.  “If there’s anything I can do to repay you –“

“It’s fine.  That’s what colleagues do.”

“Well, then I’m certainly glad to have you as a colleague.”  He picked up the mic and attached it to his blazer.  “If you don’t mind me asking, why are you here before seven in the morning?”

“I woke up early and couldn’t go back to sleep.  Too excited.  It’s my first teaching position, you see, I wanted to make a good impression.”

“Well, you’ve certainly made a good first impression on me.”  He looked at his watch.  “Lectures don’t start for another two hours, though, so you don’t have to wait around if you don’t want to.”

Thor considered for a moment.

“If I may ask, why are you here so early?”  Bruce’s lecture was before Thor’s, but that still meant he was here over two hours before he was needed.

“Same as you, really.  I don’t always find it easy to sleep when my head’s focused on –“ Bruce paused very brief second, like he was about to reveal too much and caught himself.  “Focused on science, my next paper, new theory, you know.”

“I understand.  I’ll leave you to it then, Banner.” 

“It’s been nice to meet you, thanks for helping me,” Bruce said as he waved to Thor.

Thor started to walk back out of the room when a whim caught him. 

“Bruce?”  Thor could almost swear that the man’s eyes lit up at the use of his first name.

“Yes?”

“If it’s not too much to ask, could you give me a tour of the campus?”

Bruce smiled, nodded and put his coat on, following Thor out of the room. 

Thor felt his heart speed at another smile and the thought of spending more time with him.

 


	2. Bruce's day keeps getting better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce's PoV, Bruce gives Thor a tour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mild description of past abuse.

Bruce’s day hadn’t started too well.  He’d gone to sleep stressed the night before and woken after only a few hours.  The academic year was starting, and whilst Bruce loved his job, loved teaching, he knew that it would mean he would have less time to work on his research, right when he felt _so close_ to making a breakthrough.

Worse than that, he had received a call the night before from his father’s care home.  It seemed that his father was finally dying, he’d caught something that was going around in the home. The nurse had told him on the phone that if he wanted to say goodbye, he would have to fly over to Ohio as soon as possible.  The tone of voice she spoke with implied that he really _ought to_ fly out, really shouldn’t be so _cruel_ as to leave the old man all alone in his last days. 

Bruce found that the news of his father’s illness didn’t bring him joy or sadness.  He didn’t feel angry, or vindictive, even though he had every right to be.  His father had robbed the joy from his childhood, stole his mother from him. But Bruce wasn’t pleased by the thought of him suffering, wasn’t upset about it either.  He just felt stressed about it all.  Stressed about whether he should stay or go, about how he should feel.

It was a shock to Bruce that he managed any sleep at all.  He woke feeling the need to prepare for his lectures, occupy his mind with nothing but work for at least a day, while he decided whether to go to America.

His first lecture was in one of the largest lecture theatres, and it had been done up over the summer, so Bruce wasn’t sure whether he understood the new lecture recording system they were supposed to start using.

Like a true scientist, Bruce decided to test it out, trying a practice recording.  It didn’t work.  No file recorded, barely any amplification on his speech. 

_Come on Bruce, you have seven doctorates, how can you not know how to fix some basic electricals?_

Half an hour later, Dr Odinson had walked in.  Bruce’s day got exponentially better from there.  Odinson’s papers had been fascinating to Bruce, but he had no concept of what the man who wrote the research would be like.  He hadn’t known that he would be charming, have the technical expertise to fix Bruce’s problems and have the body of a god to boot.

 _How has he kept his hair so perfect walking in the wind?_ Bruce wondered. 

With every compliment Thor bestowed upon him, Bruce felt a flutter in his stomach.  It wasn’t really that he was shocked that someone found his work impressive, but the thought that a stunning, clever man like Odinson could talk about him and his work with a fire in his eyes, clearly meaning every word, made Bruce feel chuffed in a way he hadn’t felt for a long time. 

Bruce was relieved when Thor asked him to tour around the campus.  It meant a few fewer minutes dwelling on his own stress and a while longer spent with this intriguing man.

“So, where would you like to go?”  Bruce asked.  “Unfortunately, all of the science buildings are on the other campus, but I can show you some of the more impressive buildings around here, I guess.”

 “You know this area better than I, wherever you go, I’ll follow.”  Bruce gave a shy smile.  _Pull yourself together, Bruce, he’s just asking for a tour._

“Okay, then, let’s head off.”  They walked over cobbles around the campus.  “So, Dr Odinson, have you ever been to Edinburgh before?”

“Call me Thor.” He gave Bruce a soft smile.  “I came here once as a child, but I don’t remember much, other than my brother tricking me into thinking he was a ghost when we were on a tour of a graveyard.”  Bruce pulled an anguished face on Thor’s behalf. 

“Must have scared you.”

“Him pretending to be a ghost? Oh, no, you see Loki, my brother, he knows I love ghosts, so he lured me into a crypt and trapped me there for an hour.  It was funny, with hindsight.”

The rounded a corner and approached a grand, circular building. 

“This is the main hall, where they have graduations and stuff.  Do you want a look inside?”  It only took a glace at Thor, his eyes wide in interest, to know what Thor’s response would be.

“Yes, I would be honoured.” 

They made to do into the hall but had their path blocked by Korg, a stocky-built man with a New Zealand accent. 

“Hold up.  Passes please.”

Thor reached to his inside pocket to get his pass.

“Dr Thor Odinson,” Korg read.  “That’s a cool name.  Like the god of thunder.”  Thor nodded.  “You’re new here.  People call me Korg.  As you can see, I’m campus security.  But don’t let that intimidate you. You don’t have to be afraid, unless you’re breaking and entering.”

Bruce fumbled with his jacket, patting every pocket but not finding his pass.

“I left my pass in the lecture theatre, Korg.  You know who I am, couldn’t you just let me in?”

“No can do, Bruce.”  Korg shook his head sympathetically.  “For all I know, you could be an enemy of the university.”

“Korg, you just said my name.  You know who I am.”  Thor had to keep himself from laughing at the dispute.

“Oh.  You’ve got me on that one.  Okay.  I’ll let you in.”

Passing Korg, Bruce and Thor made their way into the building, Bruce leading the way up the stairs to the top floor.

“It’s beautiful,” Thor smiled as he passed through the door into the hall. _Does he ever run out of enthusiasm?_  “Very grand.”  He turned his head around to look to the ceiling.  “The university is very fortunate to have hall such as this.”  Thor’s eyes met Bruce’s.  “And to have professors such as you.”

Bruce gave a small, self-deprecating laugh.

“Well, your students are gonna be very lucky to have you.”  Thor beamed, and Bruce found himself coming up with more and more compliments in his head that he could say later to be rewarded by that smile.  “If you teach with half the enthusiasm you’ve shown me, they’ll be blown away.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea where this is going, but tell me if you think I should continue.
> 
> I beam like a crazy person when I get comments.


	3. Pure American Beef and Icelandic Whale Steak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor meets some other university staff, and gives his first lecture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so maybe I put to many characters in this.

Thor spent the next couple of hours in Bruce’s company, touring round the campus.  Many of the buildings were impressive – some looked practically like castles – but as the tour went on, Thor found himself looking more and more at his tour guide and less and less at the landmarks.

 _His voice is so soft,_ thought Thor.  _Even when he talks with passion, there’s something so calming, so kind in his tone._

Thor’s eyes were drawn to Bruce’s hands as he fiddled with his jacket as they walked through the city, into courtyards and old buildings.  It was endearing to Thor that Banner, a man who Thor knew to be one of the best intellects of a generation, would act so nervous when giving a simple tour.  Hoping to put Banner’s mind at ease, he smiled and nodded encouragingly at every new bit of information about the buildings that he shared and did his best not to give away how much he was looking at him, not wanting Banner to think that he was strange for staring.

After a while, Bruce had to go back to the lecture theatre to give his first lecture of the semester, and he left Thor at the entrance the nearest staff room.

“Thank you for the tour, Professor Banner,” Thor said, as he waited in front of the staff room door, not wanting to say goodbye until the last possible moment.  “I feel sure I will not get lost on the way to any of my lectures, and I have you to thank.”

“Bruce,” Banner corrected.  “Call me Bruce.  It makes me feel really old being called ‘Professor’ by someone who’s over the age of twenty.”

“Well Bruce,” He smiled at name.  “Thank you.  Hopefully I will see you again in a short time.”

Bruce waved goodbye and headed back towards the lecture theatre.  Reflecting for a moment, Thor let himself lean back against the door.  He felt something in his chest as Bruce walked away.  _I’ve got a crush_ , Thor realised.  He gave a small chuckle at himself.  _Perhaps not the most sensible way to start the first day of your new job._   A part of him was surprised at himself.  It had been a long time since he had considered dating anyone, hadn’t really thought about it since his and Jane’s (definitely mutual) dumping.  It had been even longer since he had been with a man.  Thor found himself excited by the possibility, the thought of him and Bruce, but his thoughts were soon interrupted by doubts. 

_He’s a world-famous scientist who is likely just being polite to me.  And he may not be attracted to men._

Before Thor could wind himself further up, he found the door ripped from behind him, falling back wards onto the floor of the staff room.

He picked himself up instantly, recovering immediately, and looked around to see the people in the staff room.

“Hello!”  He smiled and waved.  “I’m Thor.  Thor Odinson.”

“Quite an entrance you made there, Thor” said the man who had opened the door, a rather short man with a very clear-cut, dark beard.  He held out his hand.  “You’re the new physics professor, right? I’m Tony Stark, head of the school of Engineering here.”  Thor shook his hand.  Tony looked slightly put out.

“That’s very impressive,” Thor smiled, but Tony still looked a bit puzzled.  “I’m sorry, have I done anything to offend-“

“Don’t worry about him,” A pale woman with red hair and a cheeky smile interrupted. “Tony’s just sad you don’t already know who he is.  He sees himself as the bad boy of the engineering world. ‘You know who I am’ has practically become his catchphrase.”  She stood up and made her way to Tony.  “What, no comebacks?  Tony Stark:  so shocked that someone doesn’t know who he is that he’s rendered speechless for the first time in his life.”  She smiled at Thor.  “A pleasure to meet you, Thor, I’m Natasha.”

Tony turned to leave. 

“Better be on my way.  Catch you later, point break.”

As Tony left, Thor’s brain caught up with him. 

“Tony Stark, the inventor of the arc reactor.”  Thor realised out loud.  He cringed.  _What kind of physicist will he think you are if you don’t even know about arc reactors?_

“Oh, so you do know who he is,” Natasha said, smiling, but almost sounding disappointed.

“I’m begging you please don’t tell him you know who he is.”  Started a well-built man with crutches, sitting at the table with a cup of coffee.  “Tony needs to meet at least two people who don’t know who he is each week or his head would get too big to fit in his welding mask.”  He nodded at Thor.  “I’m James Rhodes.  Most people call me Rhodey.”

“It is an honour to meet you all.”  There were only a couple of other people in the room, two good-looking men with beards and abs you could practically see through their shirts.  It wasn’t the sort of look Thor was attracted to – he found their builds too like his own.  His mind flitted back to Bruce’s curls and his voice.

“Good to meet you, Thor, I’m Sam,” one of the guys said.  “This hunk of pure American beef here is Steve.” 

“That’s not going away any time soon, is it?”  Steve said with a small grin, shaking his head.  Thor got the impression that he was on the outside of an in-joke. “D’you tell everyone about that?”

“Dr Rogers here got a number of very positive student reviews on his American history course last semester,” Natasha filled him in.  “Especially from students who appreciated having a ‘hunk of pure American beef’ giving the lectures.”

“Looks like you’ve got competition, now, Rogers.”  Rhodey gestured to Thor.  “Looks like we’ve got a hunk of pure –“  He interrupted himself.  “Thor, where are you from?” 

“My parents are from Iceland, although I spent most of my childhood in England.”

“Okay, do they eat beef a lot in Iceland?”

“Not a lot.  Fish, mainly.  Some lamb.  Shark and whale meat are delicacies there.”

“Alright, so now we’ve got a hunk of pure Icelandic whale steak to compete with your American beef.”  Steve grinned and shook his head again. 

“Ignore them, Thor.  It’s great to have you here,” he said.  “Tony said you teach physics?”

“Yes, I specialise in electromagnetism.  It’s my first day on the job, I’m rather excited.”

“Oh, Bruce’ll be happy to have help.  There weren’t really enough lecturers last year, he was very busy.”  Thor felt a smile creep to his lips at the mention of Bruce’s name.  “Have you met Bruce, yet?  He’s the head of department.”

“Yes,” replied Thor.  “He was kind enough to give me a tour of the campus.  I feel most welcome.” 

“Really?” Natasha seemed intrigued.  “Bruce gave you a tour?  I’m a little surprised you could get him to part with his research and do something social.”  _Was him choosing to help me really more than just being polite?_

“Want some coffee?”  Sam asked.

Thor accepted, sitting between next to Rhodes.  He talked to them as he drank, telling them about his research and listening to them talk about theirs.  It turned out that Rhodes and Sam both belonged to the engineering department, specifically aeronautical engineering, whilst Natasha was a linguist, who had been helping in the engineering department lately as they came across problems in their artificial intelligence research.

Unable to help himself, he brought up Bruce, and found immediately that they were all very fond of him, if sometimes a little confused by him.  It seemed that Bruce could be a bit of a recluse, with Tony and Natasha being a couple of only a few friends who could get him to really come out of his shell.  Not that Bruce wasn’t good with people – he was by all accounts amazing with his students – but he wasn’t really into social events.

It wasn’t long before Thor left to prepare for his first lecture.  He set up the presentation, welcomed his class, felt the adrenaline run through his body. 

Afterwards, he was greeted by a couple of students, who somehow already had questions.  One was a thin girl with braids curled into two buns on top of her head, wearing a very outlandish t-shirt and a small white, pink and blue pin on her collar.  She introduced herself as Shuri and wasted no time in asking Thor all sorts of questions about his thoughts on meteorology.

Behind her followed a lanky nervous-looking boy with a question about semiconductors that had nothing to do with the course, but that Thor was happy to answer anyway.  Halfway through his answer, however, Thor was distracted as he became aware of Bruce waving at him from the other side of the room. 

“- and the current flows.  So that’s about it.  I hope that helps, eh,” He realised he didn’t know the student’s name.  “Sorry, I hadn’t caught your name.”

“Oh!  Peter, sir, Peter Parker.  Thank you, you’ve really helped.”  Peter left, following after Shuri who had been waiting at the door for him.

Bruce walked up to Thor. 

“That was a very impressive first lecture, Thor.” 

“You watched it?”  Thor was surprised.  Bruce nodded. 

“I’ve gotta see whether my department’s up to scratch, haven’t I?” He walked onto the stage to help Thor pack away.  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many students stay awake for a morning lecture.”

“I’m flattered you stayed to watch.”  Bruce looked slightly embarrassed.  “I do not have another lecture to give until this afternoon, would you like to join me for some lunch?” Thor tried to not make it so obvious that his breath caught in his chest.

“Er, I’m sorry, Thor, I’ve got a lecture in an hour.”  _I should not have pushed,_ thought Thor.  _He has spent enough time with me for one day._

“Maybe, um, some other time, though?” Bruce continued.  “I mean, you’re new to town, you could probably do with some pointers as to where to eat, right?”

Thor smiled.

“Some other time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Follow or message me or send me prompts at @goddessofgamma on Tumblr.
> 
> Y'know, I smile for like an hour after every single comment I get, so please give it a go.
> 
> Also: considering having background Sam/Steve in this, what do you think?


	4. Let It All Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce gives boxing a try, with some help from Valkyrie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I am introducing yet more background characters, I'd say I'm sorry but I'm not gonna stop. Bruce's PoV.

Bruce weakly hit the punchbag.  He put his arms down.

“Remind me, what’s the point of this, again?”

Valkyrie patted him on the back.  Bruce gave it another go, hitting the punchbag with more force.

“Come on, big guy, you can do better than that.  No one’s ever gotten the anger out of their system by punching that weakly.” 

It had been Bruce’s idea to come here.  He’d tried having a therapist before, working on talking about his feelings, but there were some things that he still wasn’t ready to explain.  So, it’d come to this.  Valkyrie had been his friend for a long time.  She owned _Scrappers’,_ a bar that Tony liked to take them to.  Somehow, the first time that Bruce had gone, Val could tell that he wasn’t comfortable with drinking alcohol, as so she always discretely fixed him a fancy soft drink that looked like a cocktail, so he never had to do any explaining as to why he was teetotal. 

A couple of visits in, Bruce had got talking to her, and they’d become friends easily.  Maybe it was strange of him to start a friendship with someone who relied on drink a little too much, but Val’s problems with alcohol meant she understood why someone would want to avoid it. 

She’d told him that she used to be a personal trainer when she was saving up for the bar, and that she still did a lot of working out when she was stressed.  Bruce had thought that maybe it would be easier to punch away his problems than talk it out, so here he was, finally making use of the gym membership he’d had for four years.

Evidently, punching your problems away was somewhat difficult when you’re a middle-aged physicist with very little experience doing more exercise than running for a bus.   _Maybe I should have kept up the yoga._

“Keep your fists up even when you’re not punching, it would help you defend if you’re fighting someone and it’s a better workout.” Bruce tried, he really did, but he was getting exhausted. 

After some time on the punchbag, Val had him skipping.  Bruce felt ridiculous.  He hadn’t skipped in years and now he was doing it in a gym filled with many of his students, all able to see him trip up at a very basic task.

Bruce tripped over the rope when he saw a familiar muscular body (albeit in much less clothing than he had previously seen) jog into focus, across the other side of the adjoining room, separated by glass.  _God, Thor’s bicep’s bigger than my head._   Val laughed.

“If you’re going to check out the eye candy, you can multitask, you’ve still got to do a full five minutes of this before we move on.”

“I wasn’t-“ Bruce started to deny.

“I get it, he’s hot, but you’ve got to focus on yourself.”

“I wasn’t checking him out.”  Val gave him a disbelieving expression.  “He’s a friend, from work.”

“Really?  I’ve never seen him in the bar.”

“He’s new.  Started as a lecturer yesterday.  He’s called Thor, he’s a physicist.”

“Oh, so he’s got a good brain _and_ a good body, no wonder you were checking him out.”

“I wasn’t.” _Was I? “_ I just thought I might say hi after we’re done, be friendly.”

“You, going out of your way to be friendly?  Must really fancy him.”

“I’m not – He’s not –“ Bruce tried to get a sentence out but couldn’t, embarrassed but with  a smile on his face.

“You’re not what?  Are you really going to try to tell me that you’re straight?”

“I’m –“ Bruce considered.  He was pretty sure he was bi, but he hadn’t ever told anyone, it hadn’t seemed relevant.  “That’s not the point.” 

Continuing skipping, Bruce stole a few more glances at Thor when he didn’t think Val was looking.  _He is good-looking._ Thor’s short-sleeved shirt gave a good view of his arms, and you could see his muscles through it. _Okay, so I’m definitely bi._ Sweat gave Thor a sheen as he worked on his back.  _How is it possible he makes being sweaty look good?_

Bruce snapped himself out of his revelry.  _He’s new here and wants a friend.  Don’t gawp at him._

After the mandatory five minutes of skipping, Bruce took a swig of his water and excused himself from Valkyrie to join Thor by the water fountain.  Val gave him a smirk and a thumbs-up.

“Thor, hi!” He tried to sound surprised at seeing him there.

“Banner!” Thor shook his head and corrected himself.  “I’m sorry, I mean ‘Bruce!’  How are you?”

“Good, just working out for the first time in ages.  You?”

“Excellent!  It’s my first time at this gym, I’m rather pleased with it.” Bruce nodded.

“Hello!”  Bruce jumped as Valkyrie joined the conversation from behind him.  “I’m Val.  You’re friends with Bruce?”

“Yes,”  Thor nodded.  “Well, we only met on Monday, but he has been most kind, gave me a wonderful tour.  I’m Thor.”

“That’s nice.  Bruce needs to spend some time somewhere that isn’t either a lab or a lecture theatre.”

“Hey-“

“Sorry, Bruce, I shouldn’t joke around.”

“I was just on my way out,” said Thor.  “I’ve got a very exciting ready-meal at home waiting for me.  I haven’t done much shopping yet, and I don’t know where’s good to eat.”

“Bruce could show you,” Val volunteered.  “You could take him to that Mediterranean place near the Royal Mile that you like so much.  I would, but I’m too busy in the evenings, I’ve got a bar to run.”

Bruce was a bit dumbfounded.

“Would that really be alright?” Thor looked at him hopeful.  “Not tonight, of course, but some other time?” 

 _I can’t say no to him,_ Bruce thought as he looked into the eyes of the enormous man who somehow looked as endearing as a puppy.  _And it’s not like I don’t_ want _to have dinner with him.  He just probably wants something a bit more platonic than I have in mind_.

“Sure,” agreed Bruce.  “How’s next Thursday for you?”

“Wonderful.”

Thor walked towards the changing rooms, and Bruce fired a look at Val,

“What?  I just got you a date with a god-like physicist, are you really going to complain?”

 _It’s not a date_ , Bruce told himself.  He hoped he was wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you're thinking in the comments and I'll treasure you forever! I love comments, everything from insightful analysis to a keyboard smash.
> 
> I need to find some sorta synonym for 'Muscles' I feel like i'm saying it too much.
> 
> I'm on Tumblr @goddessofgamma , feel free to send me prompts, headcanons, questions, follow me or message me if you want a chat about anything marvel.


	5. Small Talk and Shawarma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally go on a date!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fancy shawarma shop in this is a legit place in Edinburgh, and at one point in Infinity War, Wanda is chucked through it's window. My flatmate works there.
> 
> Follow me, or send me asks and prompts @goddessofgamma on tumblr.
> 
> long chapter whoop

_Dinner on Thursday_ , Thor kept thinking. _We are having dinner together on Thursday._ It kept cycling around his head.

He couldn’t decide whether he thought it was a date or not.  One moment he thought _everyone has said that he’s been nicer, been warmer to me than anyone else.  I could swear I saw his eyes linger on me.  We’re going to dinner, somewhere nice, it is not unreasonable to assume that it is meant to be romantic._

But doubts crept in.  _It was his friend that arranged the dinner, not him.  He knows I’m new to the city, he’s just being polite.  I shouldn’t make any assumptions._

Thor hadn’t thought that he would become romantically interested in someone so soon after moving to Edinburgh.  It had been some time since he and Jane parted ways, and Loki had hold him many times that he ought to move on.  He’d considered it, but to Thor, there didn’t seem to be much point in dating someone just to be in a relationship. 

Bruce had been a surprise.  Many evenings of his had been spent pouring over papers written by him, invigorated by the connections he made, the way he could relate science together in the way it was designed to be related.  Until only a week ago, ‘Banner, B. D.’ was just a collection of thoughts written on paper to Thor.  Now they had met, Thor found himself unable to think of much else besides Bruce and work.

The lectures were going great.  Some of his class were especially eager, Shuri and some of her friends were always staying behind to ask questions, or, in Shuri’s case, actually pose their own theories.  Tony had congratulated Thor: it seemed that his class had the highest turnout rate in the School of Science and Engineering. 

All his colleagues were nice, there seemed to be a tight-knit group of friends headed by Tony, of which Bruce was a member.  They had all sorts of in-jokes and relationships to one another, but thanks to his growing closeness to Bruce, Thor felt comfortable in their company.  Even when he wasn’t joined by Bruce, Sam and Steve did their upmost to include Thor in the conversation, make him feel welcome.

Packing away his stuff after a Thursday afternoon lecture, Thor was surprised to see Bruce making his way up the stage towards him.

“Hey, Thor.  Great lecture.” He smiled.

“Thank you!  I watched your lecture on radioactive decay yesterday, it was brilliant.”

“Thanks, I thought I saw you back there.  So, er, we’re going out for dinner tonight, I was wondering where you wanted to meet?”  Bruce fiddled with his hands as they talked, rubbing them together and then through his hair.  _He’s nervous.  Is that because I’ve put him in an uncomfortable situation or because he’s excited?_

They decided on meeting at Thor’s flat, as he was the one new to the area, and would need the most direction.  As Bruce left, he gave Thor a smile and a nod, reassuring Thor that this wasn’t just something that his friend had roped him into.

Thor had thought it would be good to get home early and have time to prepare for the maybe-a-date.  In practice, it gave Thor time to overthink everything.  He washed, brushed his hair, braided a little of it back to keep the rest in place, hoping that Bruce would see that he had altered his appearance a little, hoping that Bruce would realise Thor was trying to impress him.

 _Even if this isn’t a date, it doesn’t have to be awkward.  We can just be great friends, maybe even do some research together._ As much as he tried to convince himself, his mind flitted back to the image of Bruce at the gym, all the bare skin on display, that Thor just wanted to touch, feel pressed against him.  Bruce had been out of breath, fresh from a workout when they talked. _I wonder if he would sound like that, so breathless, after I kissed him, held him, touched him right there…_  

He shook his head, knowing he was getting ahead of himself.   _I’ve only known him a week and a half._

Thor was surprised at himself.  It had been a long time since he’d been romantically involved with a man, involved with anyone but Jane.  He’d slept with people, sure, just for a night, but he hadn’t had a crush, hadn’t had that feeling of not being able to get someone out of his head in such a long time.

Shocked out of his thoughts by the doorbell, Thor hurried his way downstairs. 

“Bruce! You’re here, hello!”

“Yeah, hi,” He shuffled nervously in the doorway.  Bruce had changed too, Thor could swear he was wearing a shirt with slightly fewer creases than usual.  _Purple is a good colour on him_. “I hope I’m not too early.”

“No, of course you’re not.  I’ll just get my coat and we’ll be off, if that’s alright.”

They made conversation as they left.  Thor found it so easy to talk, to reel off thoughts about how he was finding the university, ideas about physics.  As they reached the bridge, the wind raced by them, breaking its way through to them as there were no buildings to defend from it.  Bruce laughed as their conversation was interrupted by Thor’s face being covered by his hair, barely able to see each other.  _His laugh is easily worth a face full of hair._

Stepping under some scaffolding at the end of the bridge, they reached shelter.  Thor’s breathing slowed as Bruce reached up to drag a strand of hair from Thor’s eyes.

“Thank you.”

“No problem, hopefully you’ll be able to see me to talk to me over dinner now.”

“Hmm,” Thor murmured agreement. 

“The place we’re eating is just around the corner.  It’s Mediterranean, I hope that’s okay.”

“Yes, your friend said, at the gym.  She seemed nice.”

“Val?  Yeah, nice might not be the word I’d use but she’s been a great friend to me.  She’s been helping me out at the gym, trying to –“  Bruce hesitated and Thor could tell that he was on the verge of admitting something.  “Trying to help me improve my health.”

It was only another minute before they reached the restaurant, a cosy-looking old building with a large curved window and a warm feel.

“It’s a good location you’ve got for your apartment,” Bruce made small-talk as they seated themselves. “Must be helpful to be so close to the campus, when –“  He trailed off, staring at something behind Thor.  Turning around, Thor saw the source of hesitation.

“Parker!” Boomed Thor, causing the young man to jump out of his skin.

“Dr Thor? Professor Banner?”  He smiled nervously at them.  His clothing made it immediately clear that he worked at the restaurant.  “Hi sir!  I mean, sirs.”

“Peter, I didn’t know you worked here.” Bruce smiled pleasantly at him.

“Oh, um, this is my first proper night here.  I mean, I did a trial night, this is the first time I’m serving all evening.”

“Ah, well I’m sure it will all go to plan, no need to worry.”  Thor tried to reassure him.  He hadn’t gotten to know many of his students yet, but Peter and his friends returned all of Thor’s enthusiasm, asking him questions.  Peter was more relaxed when talking about science than anything else, it seemed.

“Can I get your drinks?” 

As they ordered, Thor got the distinct feeling of being watched.  He looked backwards as subtly as he could manage, and saw some other people he recognised from his class watching them.  Recognising Shuri and one other boy, Ned, Thor clicked that they must be there to support Peter on his first day of work.  His theory was confirmed as Peter finished taking their orders and walked passed them, giving them a thumbs up.  Two of the friends shot him a thumbs up in return, while the third flipped him off, but with a smile that suggested the meaning was still positive.

“You teach Parker too?” Thor asked when he was out of earshot.

“Oh, no, not yet. He’s Tony’s godson, though, he’s always asking me questions when he visits Tony in our lab.”

“Ah, he’s close to Tony, no wonder he’s so curious.  You share a lab with Tony?”  It seemed unusual to Thor, given that Tony was in a different department.

“Yeah, I’ve got some engineering experience and Tony’s a quick learner, sometimes it’s really helpful to have someone too bounce ideas off.”  Thor smiled, thinking about how he loved bouncing ideas off Bruce.

“You are exactly right.”  He thought back to what Bruce was saying before they ordered drinks.  “So you don’t live so close to the campus?”

“I’m by the science campus, I can afford a bigger place there.”

“Is it just you, or…?”  Thor couldn’t stop himself from checking, a part of him worried that Bruce already had a partner.

“Just me.”  He nodded.  “Well, just me and the Hulk.”

“The Hulk?” Thor gave a mildly confused smile.

“My snake.  Well, I say my snake-” Bruce stopped talking as he notice how Thor’s eyes had lit up. “What is it?”

“Nothing, I just love snakes. Go on.” 

Continuing, Bruce told about how the practical training from his zoology PhD had come in handy for once when an adder was found on campus.  It was injured, as it turned out, and Bruce had been trying to improve his little ‘Hulk’s’ health ever since. 

Thor couldn’t help but glow as Bruce told the story.  He felt warmth in his heart at the thought of Bruce helping the poor creature, even one as dangerous as an adder.  As he spoke, Bruce waved his arms about, making gestures, eventually resting his hands on the table, close to Thor.  _All it would take is for you to reach out your hand and hold his,_ Thor considered to himself.  _He’s so close._

Deciding to take the risk, Thor held his hand out to hold Bruce’s.  Thor could feel Bruce still as he did so, but he didn’t move away.  His eyes flickered to Thor’s and Thor could see him smile, not just with his mouth, but with lines around his eyes, an unguarded, genuine smile.

They continued talking until they had to order food, both of them trying the shawarma as Thor had never had it before. 

Bruce seemed interested to find out that Thor’s brother had had a snake in their childhood, a large water snake who was always escaping. 

“One night we were unable to find him, but we didn’t want to tell our parents because my father had quite the temper and we thought he may take the snake away.  So we went to sleep, hoping to look again in the morning, but as I’m drifting off, I hear a scream,” Thor imitated his father, making a strange yelp noise, screwing up his face as he did so.  He could tell Bruce was holding back laughter, but he didn’t mind. “Quite unlike any other noise I’ve even heard come from my father.  It turns out the snake had wrapped itself around the globe on my father’s bedside table and touched his hand when he went to drink some water.”

“You really have a knack for anecdotes.”  Bruce grinned at him.

“It comes easily when you have a brother as mischievous as mine.  I shouldn’t be too hard on him, though.  It was him that told me to live here.”

Thor could tell that Bruce hesitated with his reply. _He’s plucking up the courage to say something._

“Then I have a lot to thank him for.”

The way Bruce said it, so sincere and slow, made Thor’s heart swell.  For a moment he put down his cutlery and held Bruce’s right hand in his, looking deep in his eyes so Bruce would know that what he said was appreciated. _He feels the same way I do,_ Thor let himself think.  _Or at least, he wants this, this thing between us._   Bruce’s hand was warm in his, and he looked content, if a little stunned.

The moment was broken when Thor felt a shuffle behind him.

“Dr Thor, Dr, I’m sorry, I mean Professor Banner, is everything okay?  The food I mean.”  Poor Parker looked mildly terrified.

“Yes, Peter, it’s great.”  Bruce jumped back and seemed a little more self-conscious after that.  Thor knew he was in the direct eye-line of Parker’s friends.

When the meal was finished, and they had split the bill, complete with an American-sized tip for Peter, they together. 

“Would you like me to walk you home?  I mean, it’s not far.”

“It would be a pleasure.”

The city looked different at night, the castle lit up to look even more grand and old and a large tower clock looming red above them.  _Should I take his hand?_ Thor couldn’t decide.  He settled for patting Bruce’s arm every now and again to emphasise something he was saying, feeling flushed with every contact.

As they reached the gate to the house where Thor’s flat was, he stopped and turned to Bruce.

“Thank you for a wonderful meal, Bruce.  And wonderful company.”  Thor felt his voice grow low at the last sentence.

“It’s you I should be thanking Thor.  I –“  He stopped for a second.  “I haven’t been in the best mood recently, and you’ve really made it a lot better.”

Thor took Bruce’s hand in his, not knowing quite how to put what he was feeling into words. _I would try to make every moment better for you, if you would have me._   His eyes flitted between Bruce’s eyes and lips, thinking of how sweet it would be to kiss him.

“Would you like to come in?  I have some coffee-“

Bruce cut him off with a kiss.  Thor’s brain short-circuited, unable to think of anything but Bruce, the pressure of Bruce’s lips on his, the scent, the taste of Bruce filling up his senses.  Holding a hand to the side of Bruce’s face, Thor pulled him as close as he could.  _Not close enough_.  He started tender, soft, leaning down into him.  As Bruce brushed his lips with his tongue, Thor pulled away slightly, needing a moment to gather himself.

“Bruce,” Thor murmured, holding his face in his hands.

“Thor.”  Bruce was catching his breath.  “I’ve had a great time, but I really should go, I’ve got lectures tomorrow morning.”

“Okay, I’m sure they’ll go well.”  He waved as Bruce walked backwards down the street.  “I’ll see you!”  He couldn’t restrain the excitement in his voice. 

Everything Thor did when he got into his flat happened on autopilot.  Making coffee, doing his washing, when all he could think was _Bruce kissed me._ He could still feel it on his lips, soft but powerful, the feeling hadn’t faded. 

That night, all he could think of was Bruce, how it would be so sweet if he were here now. _I’ll see him tomorrow,_ Thor reasoned with himself, trying to sleep. _I’ll watch one of his lectures and wait for him afterwards._

The next morning, Thor bounded across the campus to try and reach Bruce’s lecture on time.

His heart sank when he saw the man giving the lecture wasn’t Bruce at all, his brain leaping into confusion.

“Hello, class, I’ll be continuing where Professor Banner left off on Tuesday while he takes a small sabbatical.  My name it T’challa, some of you already kno-“ 

Thor wasn’t listening.  He could only wonder what had gone wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao yikes.
> 
> I live for comments, I fricking glow when I see that someone has commented, whether it's you giving some insight, some hopes for future chapters or just going 'Wtf was that ending, bitch."
> 
> Hope you enjoyed.


	6. Unbottling Emotions for Half an Hour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce Goes to his father's funeral and catches up with his favourite family member.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've read quite a bit of Hulk and She-Hulk but never any comics where they meet, so I apologize if their relationship is a bit off. Idk where Bruce is from, but I new his dad was a nuclear physicist so I picked somewhere that went with that.  
> Brief but pretty horrible mention of past domestic abuse.
> 
> Follow me or send me prompts/asks/headcanons on tumblr @goddessofgamma

Bruce couldn’t believe himself.  He’d kissed Thor.  He had been the one to lean in, the one to start something. _Thor kissed me back,_ he remembered.  _Thor held me to him, kissed me like there was nothing he would rather do in the world._

So maybe Valkyrie had been right, he had been checking Thor out.  The idea of having a crush on someone was pretty alien to Bruce, he hadn’t properly been in a relationship for about a decade.  Since he’d been at Edinburgh, he’d only had the occasional blind dates (all with women) that Tony insisted he go on.  Bruce had pushed any romantic thoughts to the back of his head for a long time.  He hadn’t even properly considered dating a man before Thor made his way into his life.  Sure, he found men attractive, but he wasn’t looking for love, and he really didn’t feel like telling Tony he was bi only to have more blind dates, this time with men, thrust upon him.

Thor had been unexpected.  A beautiful, intelligent man who seemed to be really interested in Bruce, put in the situation of having a shed load of reasons for spending time together.  _His voice is so lovely_ **,** Bruce thought as he watched Thor give a lecture, the afternoon before their date.  _I could listen to him for days._

The whole evening had been a flood of emotions, happiness, anticipation, nervousness.  Somehow, even feeling nervous around Thor made him feel good, got him high on excitement, on Thor’s enthusiasm.  Bruce hadn’t been sure at the start of the evening whether Thor understood that Valkyrie had set this up as a date.  But Thor had held his hand as they waited for their food, his eyes darted between Bruce’s eyes and lips. 

Doubts and worries that Bruce had held were overridden as Thor became more affectionate.  It was like collecting evidence; holding someone’s hand at a dinner for two, looking with desire at your companion’s lips, these were things people did on dates, things that were firmly placed in the ‘romance’ category of actions.

It hadn’t even felt like a decision when he leant in on tip-toes to kiss Thor.  He’d felt a pull, magnetic, towards Thor, a need to know what it felt like to kiss him, to hold him close.  As the kiss was returned, Bruce released a tension in him he didn’t even know was there, dissolving into Thor’s arms.

Bruce knew he should have more time to process his feelings, shouldn’t stay the night with Thor, but the whole walk home he could think of little else.  He thought of the feeling of Thor’s body pushed hard against him, the taste of his lips, so unfamiliarly masculine and still so sweet.  His mind wandered further, extrapolating how Thor’s strong arms would feel around him, imagining how it would have been if he’d stayed, how good it would feel to let himself go with Thor with him every step of the way.

Snapping himself out of his thoughts before he made a fool of himself in public, Bruce opened the gate to his small terraced house. 

His phone was glowing red, showing that he had a new message.  He grappled with whether to answer it, knowing it would spoil his mood, but reluctantly pressed the play button.  

The first message was from the home his father had been looked after.  Brian Banner had passed away in his sleep, following kidney failure.  The sentence rang hollow to Bruce.  He wasn’t shocked, he didn’t feel sad or happy.  He just felt numb.  The man he’d been scared of since before he could remember anything was dead.  The funeral was to be held in two days.

The second message was from Bruce’s cousin, Jennifer Walters.  The sound of her voice immediately made Bruce connect much more to the call than he had to the anonymous nurse from the other call.  Jen said that the home had called her when they couldn’t get through to Bruce.  She’d understand if he didn’t want to go to the funeral, but she would love to see him, and wanted to be there for him if he needed her.

Bruce had a strange feeling in his chest, that a whole part of his life just felt inconclusive.  He’d spent so much of his life in fear, wanting to get away from his father and now he was gone, but Bruce couldn’t picture him gone in his mind.  The last image he had of him was as he was at his parole hearing, where they agreed to send him to a specialised facility for elderly offenders.  Brian looked frail then, almost physically falling apart, but his voice was the same as the man who had yelled at him, yelled at his mother until yelling at her hadn’t been enough for him.

In that moment, Bruce decided.  He needed to go to the funeral, needed to get himself to believe that his father was dead, that this was all over.

He booked his tickets over, phoned Jen to ask if he could stay over, sent an email to T’challa to request leave due to bereavement.  It felt strange to Bruce to call it a ‘bereavement’.  He really didn’t feel like mourning.

Barely able to sleep, Bruce had so many conflicting emotions that he felt queasy.  He woke up to the piercing sound of his alarm, his heart racing at 100 beats per minute at his anticipation.

Hulk had been fed last Monday, and so would be okay for food until after he returned but he dropped Val a message asking if she could pop in to check on him anyway. 

“G’bye Hulk, I’ve leaving for a few days.” 

Hulk hissed.

“Screw you, you little asshole,” Bruce said, his tone fond.

He left for the airport with just a small carry on bag with a few crumpled clothes in it and an Irn-Bru to keep him awake after such a bad night’s sleep. 

Jen met him at Los Alamos airport, and as soon as Bruce saw her, his heart slowed to a normal pace.

“Bruce!  It’s so good to see you.”  She wrapped him in a hug.  “It’s been too long.”

“I know, Jen I should have visited in the summer, I just –“ He couldn’t think of a proper explanation.  “You know what I’m like.”  She nodded.

“You’re too wrapped up in your work.”  She shrugged.  “So am I.”

She drove him to the apartment she was renting while she was here, telling him all about a recent case she was the defence lawyer for as they went.

“The prosecution was using a deathbed confession as their main piece of evidence, it was so flimsy, and even then, my client wouldn’t just call it out as a lie. We got him off, but God, he was a difficult client,” She finished.  Bruce smiled, not really understanding the ins and outs of Jen’s job but proud of her anyway.  _I guess all those days spent studying in the library together really paid off._

“So, what’s going on with you?  You must have just started teaching again, right, how’s that?”

“Eh, good, it’s going good.  My students are really attentive, and we’ve got a new lecturer in the apartment –“  His speech slowed a little as he dwelled on Thor.  “- He’s really great.  Uh, I mean, it’s been really great having him around, helping the department.”

“That’s nice, it’ll be really good for you to have another friend and colleague to talk about the science stuff I don’t understand,” Jen said absent-mindedly, focusing more on driving.

“Um, yeah, another friend.”  Bruce adjusted his glasses, unsure whether to properly tell Jen about Thor.

“What was that about?”  Jen shot him a look.

“What was what about?”

“You hesitated.”

“Aren’t I allowed to just hesitate a bit?”  Bruce loved Jen but sometimes he thought she knew her mannerisms little too well.

“Sure you are, but I know it means you aren’t telling me everything.  Tell me about this new lecturer guy.”

“Er,” He couldn’t think why to say no.  “He’s called Thor Odinson, he specialises in electromagnetics.”  Bruce tried not to let his excitement about Thor shine through in his voice. 

“Is he Scandinavian?”  Bruce shot her a ‘how did you come to that conclusion?’ look.  “Oh, come on, with a name like Thor?  He’s either Scandinavian or his parents were a couple of these white American parents who give their kids names like ‘Kayleigh’ but somehow spelt with eleven ‘e’s.”

“He’s Icelandic, originally, so not technically Scandinavian.”

“Does he look like a Thor?”

“How is it possible to ‘Look like a Thor’?”

“Is he pale with blond or ginger hair and a long beard?  And super tall?”

“Not a _long_ beard.”

Jen laughed.

“So he _does_ look like a Thor.”

They pulled into the driveway and made their way to Jen’s apartment.  Talking for hours, Bruce felt comfortable, remembering the good part of home, how nice it was to have someone who had known him so long that he felt that nothing he said could be a shock in her company.  A few hours into their conversation, Jen finally found it in herself to bring up the reason that Bruce had come back to America in the first place. 

“You don’t have to go to his funeral, you know.”  Jen was calm as she said it, having clearly considered what she was going to say.

“I know,” Bruce quietly replied.  “I don’t –“  He couldn’t think of the right phrasing.  “I don’t wanna pay my respects, you know.  I don’t – I didn’t respect him.  But I’m here now and I just wanted it to be over, wanted everything with him to be over.”

Jen nodded. 

The funeral was quiet, with only three people in attendance.  No one had anything nice to say about Brian Banner.  Bruce considered that if he were a more forgiving person, he might thank his father pushing his interest in nuclear physics, but he flinched at the thought.  _Science is_ my _thing.  He doesn’t get to have any claim to any of my achievements._

 _He gave up the right to that when he slammed my mom’s head against the sidewalk.  No,_ Bruce corrected himself. _He gave up his right to claim having anything to do with me before that, when he threatened me, yelled at my mother._

Emotions were buzzing through Bruce, feelings of anger and sadness and spite.  He could feel it in his veins, as though someone had whipped a whirlwind of conflicting hormones and nerve signals through him.  His breathing sped, and he pleaded with himself not to cry.  _He doesn’t deserve me crying at his funeral.  He stole my childhood, stole my mom, he doesn’t get to have this._

Trying to hold back his tears only made it worse, and soon his eyes were red and Jen was at his side, not holding him, knowing he’d need space, but staying there for him.

“I’m not sad he’s gone,” Bruce quietly said to Jen when the funeral was over, and they could go back home.  “I haven’t given a crap about him in thirty-five years.”

“I know.”  Jen’s response was calm, not wanting to make Bruce say any more than he was comfortable with.

They ended up getting Chinese take-out, as both of them were awful at cooking.  Jen had done all she could to cheer Bruce up and it was starting to work.  _Who knows?  Maybe crying and stopping bottling your emotions up of a little while is actually a healthier coping mechanism._

As they were eating, Jen was checking her phone, which was winding Bruce up a little because it was quite unlike her.  The fuzzy feeling of having had an emotional outburst was still flowing through Bruce, but he was in a much better mood.

“Wow, this new lecturer of yours is really, well, _something._ ”

Bruce’s head snapped up to look at her.

“What? Thor?  Why do you say that?”

“I’m on his instagram.  Have you seen this?”

“No.” Bruce gestured to Jen to show him.  His pictures were really funny, no pictures of him working out or being overly serious.  They ranged from picture of him and his brother on Halloween, dressed as a snake and a ghost, to one of the classiest pictures on his account, of him posing in a cat café, captioned ‘Do radioactive cats live 18 half-lives?’.  Bruce felt heated at seeing Thor.  He still hadn’t processed their kiss, found himself wondering if had gone mad and imagined it.  Unable to stop a small smile on his lips, Bruce prayed he wasn’t blushing.

“They’re nice photos,” Bruce said, trying to sound normal.

“Nice?  They’re a bit weird but I think the fact that he’s hotter than one of those hydrothermal vents you did your third PhD on more than makes up for it.”  Bruce tried not to directly look at her, feeling his face heat.  “What is it?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Bruce, you’re not looking at me properly.  What is it?  Is it something about this Thor man?”

 _Why is it so difficult to tell her?_ Bruce knew Jen should be the easiest person to tell.  She was a liberal as they come, loved Bruce unconditionally.  It took a moment for Bruce to click that this would be his first time coming out to anyone.  Valkyrie was proudly bi, and kind of assumed everyone else she met was bi until proven otherwise, so he hadn’t even had to tell her.  With Thor, well, he hadn’t come out, he’d just kissed him. 

Jen was the person in Bruce’s life who’d been there the longest, so even though Bruce knew she would be supportive, he felt like it would change how she saw him, rewrite memories from years ago as a new part of himself was revealed to her.  He almost felt embarrassed for not telling her earlier, like he was making too big a deal of it now by having kept it to himself.

_This is stupid.  I’ll tell her, I can’t feel bad for not telling her before it was relevant, I’ve never really talked much about any of my relationships, she’ll understand._

“I-“  He made himself look at her properly.  “I went on a date with him on Thursday.”

Jen’s eyes went wide.  She wasn’t the sort of person to go and seek out gossip and root through people’s personal lives, but she did appreciate an interesting piece of news.

“You went on a date with this amazing, brainy muscle-god-man?”  Bruce involuntarily smiled.

“Yeah.”

“How did it go?”

“Great.”  Bruce didn’t know how to explain it.  “More than great.”  Jen raised an eyebrow.  “Not like that! I – We talked and went for dinner, and kissed him and it was great.”  Bruce felt embarrassed saying it, but mentally reprimanded himself.  _Just because you’re talking about a date with a man, doesn’t mean that it’s any more explicit or inappropriate to talk to your cousin about_ , Bruce had to remind himself.

Jen beamed at him.

“Aww, Brucie has a crush.  Are you going to see him again?”

“Yeah, I will.  I thought I’d see him at lectures this week, but then I came here-“

“Did you tell him what had happened?”

“No, I got the phone call after the date and I wasn’t gonna call him up after the date to tell him ‘oh that was a great evening, but my dad was biting the dust as we were biting our shawarma’.  I’ll see him soon, though.”  Bruce could feel himself get excited at the prospect.

“Does he know that?  That you’ll want to see him again?”

“Yeah, of course.”

_He’s incredible.  How would he ever think I wouldn’t want to keep seeing him?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The coming out scene is kinda based off my own experiences. 
> 
> I'm a big fan of not having to reconcile with shitty family members just bc they're family. If they're abusive, you don't have to have anything to do with them.
> 
> I hope you like it! I'm sorry Thor isn't directly in this chapter but hopefully I included him enough in other ways.
> 
> Comments make me smile for hours I reread them like 5 times when I need motivation or am down. You have the ability to make my day. Use it wisely.


	7. Night Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor gets some news from his brother and tries to distract himself by going on a night out with his colleagues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to update I had writers' block. I forgot to mention last time, but there is another li'l fic I wrote that is Thor and Bruce's date from Shuri's perspective, so if you fancy reading that just click on the link to the next work in the series.   
> Spot the Stan Lee cameo in this chapter.

_What went wrong?_   It was all Thor could think of after hearing that Bruce had left the country immediately after their date.  _Did I frighten him? Come on too strong?_   He shook his head to himself.  _It was Bruce who kissed_ me.  _It was Bruce that made the first move._

They’d talked for a long time on their date, and one of the things they had discussed had been the lectures that both had planned for the following week, so what had changed?  Thor couldn’t think that anything else could have happened that would make Bruce leave without warning.  It had to be him.  Maybe Bruce didn’t want to be in a relationship with a colleague, maybe he hadn’t been eager enough in showing Bruce that his attraction was reciprocated.

He gave his lectures with markedly less enthusiasm that day.  Walking to the staff room, staring at his feet, he almost bumped straight into Stark.

“Woah there, point break.” Tony held his hands out in mock-defence. “Don’t trample on me now.”

“Sorry,” Thor mumbled gruffly. 

“What’s up, where’s that ray-of-sunshine smile we’ve gotten so used to seeing?”

“Nothing’s ‘up’.  I’m sorry my facial expressions aren’t to your liking, Stark, I thought having an off day would be permissible.”

“Okay, first up, I was just asking if you’re alright, and seeing as though you just used a level of sarcasm I didn’t know you were capable of, I’m gonna assume that you’re not alright, but you don’t wanna talk about it.  Secondly, call me Tony.  I’d say we’re on first name terms because I feel like we’ve gotten to know each other enough but honestly you were a little bit scary when you called me ‘Stark’ just there.”

“Don’t tease him, Tony,” Steve’s voice came from across the staff room. 

“I wasn’t teasing him, Captain Handsome, and I would have thought by now that you would know by now what me teasing someone looks like.”  He turned back to Thor.  “Coffee?” 

Thor nodded.

“Sorry, Thor.  How about I make it up to you; we’re going out tonight, a little bar called Scrapper’s, want to come to your first drunken expedition with all us wild professors?”

_I could do with something to do to keep my mind off Bruce._

“Sounds like it could be fun,” Thor replied with a weak smile on his lips.

The day dragged on from there, Thor’s heart only half in his lectures.  Another complication came when he got a call from his brother.

“Brother! So you do know how to answer skype after all.”

“What is it that you want, Loki?”

“Why ever do you think I want something from you, couldn’t I have just wanted to speak to my favourite sibling?”

“Saying you prefer me to Hela isn’t much of a compliment if you’re aiming for my good books.  But you’re right, I should not have been so aggressive, I’m glad you finally returned one of my calls.”

“Yes, well, you’d left me so many messages it was starting to get embarrassing.  Anyway, I’m going to be in town.  You know my partner, En Dwi?”

“That sadist who makes you call him ‘the Grandmaster’?”  Loki had the good grace to look at least a little embarrassed. 

“He’s treating me to a tour of Europe, well, at least, he’s coming with me as his tour guide, seeing as though I know the continent well.  And when I said I had a brother in Scotland, he insisted we stop off on our way to Norway.”

Thor was excited but reticent.

“Does that mean I have to see _him_ , as well as you?”

“Don’t sound so put-out, brother.  En Dwi has been very good to me.”  Thor shot him a disgusted look.  “Anyway, we’ll be coming in a month’s time.  Goodbye, I’ll see you then.”  He moved his finger to end the call.

“Loki?”  _Don’t hang up now, we’ve barely talked._   “Loki!” Thor started to shout angrily but Loki had already hung up.

Trying to calm himself, Thor made a coffee and went to his bedroom to find something appropriate for a lecturer to wear on a night out.  _It’ll distract you from Bruce,_ Thor tried to convince himself.  _I should get to know my other colleagues._

He put on a smart-ish grey shirt, not caring too much whether he was looking his best, knowing Bruce was unlikely to be there.

With the directions to Scrapper’s bar loaded on his phone, Thor made his way out.  I was the sunniest that Thor had ever seen the city, and he did his best to appreciate it, but his attempt was half-hearted. 

As soon as he entered the bar, he was greeted by Tony patting him on the back.

“Good to see you here, point break.  Welcome to your first staff night out.  I’d say be responsible and set a good example in case any kids are watching but then Rogers would call me a hypocrite.”  Tony kept talking a Thor found himself distracted by a very familiar looking bartender.   _She was the one at the gym with Bruce.  Maybe she knows what went wrong._ “- thankfully we don’t have to teach tomorrow… You’re not listening to a word I’m saying, are you?”

Thor gave a questioning ‘Hmm?’ as his attention went back to Tony. 

“Distracted by the bartender behind me, the one who’s pretty beautiful, but in a I-could beat-you-up-and-you-would-thank-me kinda way?”

“Err,” was all Thor could respond.

“That’s Val.  She’s great, but she really doesn’t like guys flirting with her on the job, so don’t try that.  I heard Bruce say she’s trained in boxing and self-defence, so, yeah, really don’t try that.”

 _I don’t want to flirt with her,_ Thor thought, but didn’t say.  _I want to ask her about what happened with Bruce._   His stomach dropped.  _Or perhaps it’s best not to know._

Tony walked Thor over to a group of people he mostly recognised.

“You already know Natasha, from what I’ve been hearing, Rhodey was teasing you almost as much as I have been last week, so you know him.  This is Pepper Potts, love of my life and the person number one on the list of people keeping me from descending into madness.”

“Oh, so I’m number two now?”  Rhodes asked.

“If you’re willing to make out and snuggle up with me and put up with my snoring every night, you might just get bumped back up to first.”

Rhodes shook his head.

“You had to make it weird.” 

“Anyway, Pepper, this is Thor, the new physics lecturer, the one that Bruce has taken a shine to.”

“Nice to meet you, Thor.”  Pepper held out her hand.  “I’m glad Bruce likes you, he can be a little unwilling to socialise sometimes.” 

 _He wasn’t unwilling with me_ , Thor thought.  _He wasn’t unwilling when he talked to me, wasn’t unwilling when he kissed me._   Tony interrupted his train of thought.

“I was just about to go get another round, you want any?” Thor accepted, thinking it might help him stop worrying about if he’d done anything wrong on his date. 

The night was a blur after that.

It turned out that one drink wasn’t enough to stop Thor’s mind wandering back to Bruce, so he thought that perhaps a second drink would do the trick.  When that failed, he had a third.  He lost count after that. 

The next day he woke with only fragments of the night before in his mind.  He could remember talking to Sam and Steve at the bar, Sam pointing out people that he thought Steve ought to try flirting with, and Steve not liking the idea at all.  He could remember asking Tony why he kept calling him ‘Point Break’ and had a feeling that that lead to some discussion of which of Patrick Swayze’s haircuts was the worst.  He could remember talking to Val but not plucking up the courage to ask about where Bruce had got to.

Thor tried to sit up in his bed but found his hair was stuck the pillow, lifting the pillow as he raised himself.  Reaching back, he found his hair coated in a still slightly sticky knot of bubble gum. 

He could remember watching Korg start a contest over who could blow the biggest bubble.  He could remember standing a little too close to some creepy old man who rose to the challenge.  He could remember the old man stumbling over drunk as the bubble popped and getting the bubble gum all over Thor’s hair. 

Thor groaned. 

He was going to need a haircut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One short haired Thor coming up. 
> 
> If I have the time and motivation, I plan to write this night from Sam and Steve's perspective and it's gonna be shippy.
> 
> I love comments so much, it's the thing that make me keep writing. I legit reread all comments about 5 times per chapter I write, even the ones that I just incoherent screaming in text form.


	8. Back in the Ring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce returns to Scotland and to the gym, and has a very confusing encounter with Thor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back at Uni, so updates will keep going but less frequently, sorry. 
> 
> I've also started another, much shorter fit I'm planning 3 chapters of, though, so check it out if you're over 18 and fancy a fluffy-smut thing. ( https://archiveofourown.org/works/15979970/chapters/37276853 )

Returning to Scotland seemed to Bruce like entering a different world.  His father had never touched this place, never ruined it for him, but then again, he didn’t have Jen here to talk to and confide in.  _Not Jen,_ Bruce thought, _but I do have my friends, Val, Tony, Thor…_ His thoughts trailed off at the memory of Thor. 

He’d never let anyone into his life as fast as he’d come to know Thor.  A few days into their friendship and he was already buzzing to Thor about their works, flicking his ideas at him to see if he could add insight.  A couple of times on their date, he’d even briefly mentioned his childhood, albeit keeping to the fun times spent with Jen in the library rather than talking about the abuse him and his mother had lived under.  Bruce didn’t think that that was the kind of thing you were supposed to talk about on a first date.  He hadn’t even really told Val about or Tony about it yet, although he suspected Val had guessed he had some kind of crappy childhood involving bad experiences with alcohol.

Thor wasn’t the sort of person you held back around, his very nature made Bruce want to be more himself, a more positive version of himself.  He couldn’t hold back his enthusiasm for teaching when he saw it echoed in Thor, couldn’t hold back his excitement when Thor talked about his work.  He couldn’t hold back when he saw Thor looking at him like he wanted to kiss him.

That kiss had held up Bruce’s mood for the past week, reflecting on it when he got too emotional about visiting the city that should have been his home. He wished he’d texted Thor afterwards, had some proof that it had happened, so he could convince himself it had been real.

It had been a week since, and that meant he’d gone a week without the fitness regimen he had only started a few days before taking a break.  Bruce knew he had had a good reason for not doing going to the gym but that didn’t stop him from berating himself.  He sent Val a text as he cooked some super noodles, wrinkling his nose at the strong salty smell.  Val didn’t reply until some hours later, when she was packing up the bar, but she agreed to meet Bruce in the gym before his next lectures. 

Bruce had to force himself out of bed the next morning, all too aware that once he left the warmth of his duvet he’d be freezing cold, the Scottish autumn already settling in. One cup of coffee and a warm jumper later, Bruce felt lively enough to leave the house and get his bus. 

When he got to the boxing training room of the gym, Val was already there, attacking a punch bag with such ferocity that Bruce was a little afraid to interrupt her.  He called her name, but she didn’t hear over the sound of her punches and the radio, so he gave her a little tap on the shoulder.  That had been a mistake; Val turned around immediately, her fists poised to punch.

“Woah, er, sorry,” Bruce stumbled back out of reach as he apologized.

“You’re back.”  Val went from looking furious to having a grin.  “How’s America?  Did you see Jen?”  Jen had visited a couple of years ago and hit it off a little too well with Val when they stopped off at Scrapper’s; Bruce didn’t see Jen until the next morning, when she came back in the same clothes she’d had on the night before.

“America’s gone to hell.  But, I mean, it’s not like it’s ever been much better, how much do you know about American history, Val?”

“I didn’t mean the whole politics thing, I meant funeral and every –“ She trailed off, exasperated.  “You know what I meant.”

“The funeral was okay, about as okay as it could have been.  Jen was good, she was there for me.”  Somehow it felt strange talking to Val about his emotions during the day; usually everyone around them was drunk by the time they had a heart to heart, and although they were sober, it felt easier to be open about things when everyone else’s inhibitions were lowered.

“Good, now, want to try punching all your feelings away?”  She smirked at him.

“I guess I’d better.  I’ve gotten getting a bit fat since I’ve lived in Scotland, I should really try and work it off.”  He’d been thinking about whether Thor would think he was too chubby, if they ever got to the point of seeing each other without clothes, and it was making him want to lose weight.

“No!”  Val was very serious and determined in her response.  “You look great how you are.”  Bruce grimaced.  “You managed to get a date with that God-like physicist with that body.”

“You got me that date.” 

“That’s true,” Val admitted.  “Boxing’s for building muscles and giving you an outlet.  But if you want to improve your health you should really stop having so many microwave meals, not trying to lose weight.”

“You have a microwave meal every day!”

“And I don’t plan to stop, but we weren’t talking about me.  Is that an elbow patch?”  She pointed out a leather patch on his jumper.  “Go and change, boxers aren’t meant to look like middle-aged professors.”

“I _am_ a middle-aged professor,” Bruce half-heartedly complained as he made his way to the changing room.

He was about to round the corner back to the boxing room when he heard Val talking to a familiar voice.  _Thor’s here._ His heart raced.  Taking a moment to prepare himself, he stayed behind the wall, listening to their conversation.

“- to ask.  Do you think – Did Bruce have a bad time last week?  Last Thursday?”  Thor’s voice sounded so sweet to Bruce after a week of its absence, but he sounded uncharacteristically hesitant.

“Last Thursday?” Val sounded a bit confused.  “I’m guessing it was a pretty awful day for him, yeah.  You know he left the country, right?  D’you know about why?”  Thor sounded uncomfortable, unwilling to give an answer.  Bruce decided he’d waited long enough and turned into the room.

His immediate instinct was to smile his warmest smile at Thor on seeing him, but Thor had such a pained expression that it didn’t seem appropriate. 

“Hi, Thor,” Bruce did his best surprised voice, trying not to make it clear he’d been listening to their conversation.  “It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too, Banner.”  Thor’s smile wasn’t the genuine, beaming one that he’d become accustomed to.  “I’ll let you get on with your exercise, don’t let me disturb you.”

Bruce’s mood dropped as he watched Thor walk away.  _Why did he call me Banner?  Didn’t he want to talk?_

“So, do you want to punch something, or are you going to stand there all day gawping at the God-man’s arse even after he’s left.”

“Punch something,” Bruce agreed, putting on his pair of boxing gloves.

“Okay, Bruce, remember what I said last time, keep your hands up, even when you’re not punching.”  Bruce nodded.

_Why didn’t he stay to talk?_

PUNCH

_Did he get bored of me talking too much on our date?_

PUNCH

_Was it even a date?  Did I misread something?_

PUNCH

_Did he not want that kiss?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love you all! I'm so thrilled by the idea that people actually look forward to updates for this. 
> 
> Every comment sparks joy in my heart and I reread them all the damn time so thanks for leaving them!
> 
> Why am I writing miscommunication, this is so painful afbdshgklbadjg


	9. Still Too Hot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor drinks coffee. Exciting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mini chapter bc both this and the last chapter were meant to be parts of the next two chapter but then I realized it was getting too long.
> 
> This was kinda based on that one video of Chris Hemsworth drinking soup.

Thor found it difficult to continue working out after his conversation with Val.  His heart wasn’t in it, and he kept looking over his shoulder to check that Bruce hadn’t walked in to the room, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. 

 _A pretty awful day for him._   That was how Valkyrie had described the day of their date.  She knew that they had gone out for dinner on that day, so that was most likely what she’d been referencing.  _Had it really been so bad that he had to leave the country?_ Part of Thor clung to hope that there was some other cause for Bruce’s sudden absence, but he didn’t know how to ask him about it, worried that he’d be put down and forced to have a very awkward conversation with him.

Making his way down to the café by the side of the gym, his flask in hand, Thor tried to decide where he would go from here, how he would be around Bruce in the future.

 _I can’t avoid him,_ he realised.  _I wouldn’t want to avoid him._ He sat down and took a gulp of his coffee, immediately spluttering it out when he felt it scalding his tongue. 

“Ow, too hot.”  He muttered under his breath.

 _Maybe we can just be friends, just be colleagues._   Thor wanted to believe it, but his mind kept straying back to the feel of Bruce’s lips on his.  He took another sip of his coffee, forgetting that in the flask it still hadn’t had the time to cool down.

“Agh, still too hot.” 

 _I should focus on my work,_ he decided.  _My students deserve all my attention._ He thought about Peter and Shuri, their enthusiasm and how they always had questions.  Thinking about them only made him remember the dinner he’d shared with Bruce, where Peter had served them.  Trying to snap himself out of his train of thought, Thor brought his flask to his mouth.

“Ughh, still too hot!”  He gritted his teeth and noticed that he’d drawn attention to himself, some of the other people at the café trying to hide their laughter at him. 

Thor pulled out his chair, ready to head to the campus to teach his lectures.  Every train of thought he had on the way drove its way back to Bruce, no matter how hard he tried to steer it away.

 _I should talk to him,_ Thor concluded, wanting to be a sensible person, though his stomach dropped at the thought.  _I should listen and hear what went wrong._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want some more stuff, send me prompts and asks @goddessofgamma on Tumblr, or follow me.
> 
> I live for comments dajfkhlg it makes me write so much faster with more motivation.
> 
> Have a great week :)


	10. Science Bros

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce and Tony have a heart-to-heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been looking forward to this chapter bc I've been falling more and more in love with Tony and Bruce's dynamic. As a proud member of the Bruce Banner Appreciation Society, I'm glad to say that Tony is our founding member. I really wanted to show the sarcastic side of Bruce but still show how much they care about one another.
> 
> Send me prompts, asks or just generally ramble to me on private messenger on tumblr @goddessofgamma

The rain could be heard battering the sun roof of the lab as Bruce recorded the gamma emissions from his positron imager.  He could hear Tony on the other side of the bench bouncing his foot on bar of the work bench.

“What’s Thor’s deal?”  Tony asked, not looking up from his soldering.  Bruce’s head sprung up, his head whirring at why Tony would think to ask him that.

“I don’t know.  What do you mean, has he said anything to you?”

“No, he was just acting weird the other day when we were out at the bar.  I thought he might have a thing for Valkyrie, but she didn’t think so.”  _She wouldn’t, she’s the one that set us up on a date._   “But he keeps talking about you all the time.”

“He –“ Bruce didn’t know what to make of this, didn’t know how much Tony had figured out.  “He talks about me?”

“Yeah, he seems pretty smitten with you.”  Tony clipped some excess wire from a resistor he’d just soldered.  “So I thought you’d know what he’s deal was, if anyone did.  I mean, he’s a big hunky guy with brains as good as any professor here, he can clearly get just about any person he sets his eyes on.”

Bruce felt his heart catch in his throat, halfway between being full of anxiety at thinking of Thor when he didn’t know where they stood with one another, and feeling a renewed confusion at why Thor would choose him to go on a date in the first place.  The resulting flood of emotions made Bruce feel ready to snap.

“Tony, you know I don’t spread gossip, if you really want to know so bad, phone him up and ask him, I’m not some messenger boy for schoolyard rumours.”  Bruce’s voice may have gotten a little too loud as he talked, because Tony finally looked up from his work, looking a little surprised at Bruce.

He raised his gloved hands.

“Okay, buddy.  I’m not gonna have to call him, though, he’s coming to the lab at three, he’s gonna help me with my reactor simulations.”

It was Bruce’s turn to be shocked up from his work.

“He’s coming here?  To this lab?”

“Yeah, he said you’d been talking through some of your experiments with him so I thought you’d be okay with me inviting him to come and have a look at some of our stuff, but now I’m seeing your face I’m thinking maybe not so much.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my face.” Bruce was defensive.

“Don’t worry, you’re still pretty as peaches, Brucie-bear, but when I said Thor was coming here you looked like I just poured soup into your lap.”  Tony walked around to Bruce’s side of the work, bench as he talked.  “Forget what Thor’s deal is, what’s your deal with Thor?” He poked Bruce with some wire solder he was still holding to emphasize his words.

Bruce felt the stress rise in him as he considered how much Tony, whether he should just deny everything or tell him the truth.  _If I tell him that I like Thor, that I like_ men _now, won’t he think I’ve been lying to him about who I am the whole time we’ve been friends?_

“My deal is…” Bruce took a breath to steady himself.  “I went on a date with Thor.”

Tony didn’t immediately smile but his eyes lit up like Christmas had come early.  The strange, uncomfortable heaviness in Bruce’s throat that he’d begun to associate with coming out to people had come back.  _Here comes the teasing,_ he thought.

“You went on a date with big, smiley, clever, god-like, teddy-bear man?”  The pitch of Tony’s voice rose slightly in glee as he made his way through the description.  “See, Bruce, I always told you that you were a catch, you’ve got that ruggedly-handsome, nerd-charm thing going on.”  He looked at Bruce expectantly.  “So…?”

“What?”

“How did the date go? C’mon you’ve been acting weird as soon as I mentioned Thor, something must have happened.”  Tony paused for a second and then asked.  “Did you go to that shawarma place up on the corner of Cockburn Street and Fleshmarket Close?” 

Bruce’s eyes narrowed, rationally knowing that Tony hadn’t read his mind, but not knowing how he knew that.

“Peter told me he saw you both on his first night working there.  I’d just figured you weren’t there alone. So, anyway, how’d it go?”

It was difficult for Bruce to give an honest answer that wouldn’t involve him having to explain why he was so awkward around Thor now.

“Good.  The best date I’ve had in a long time.”  _Best date I’ve ever had,_ he corrected in his head.  “You’re not…surprised?  About me being bi, being into men?” 

The instant it took for Tony to reply lasted a thousand times longer in Bruce’s mind.

“Well, I mean, if I’d known you liked guys sooner then some of those blind dates I set you up on would have been with men…”

“Which is _maybe_ part of the reason I didn’t tell you,” Bruce muttered sarcastically under his breath.

“I’m gonna ignore that comment because I know this is a really formative moment for you.”  Bruce struggled not to roll his eyes, but he knew that Tony was sincere deep down.  “But honestly I’m just more surprised that someone asked you out and you, Bruce.”  He prodded him on the chest.  “Love machine that you are, actually said yes.”

“What makes you think that he asked _me_ out?” Bruce got a little defensive.

“Did _you_ really ask _him_ out?”  Tony exaggerated the shock in his voice. 

“Yeah!”  Bruce was indignant and the shock in Tony’s eyes no longer needed exaggeration.  “Val asked him for me, but yeah.”

Tony _giggled_ , a sound Bruce had only heard a handful of times in all their friendship. 

“Hey!” 

“I’m sorry!”  Tony covered his mouth apologetically with his hand.  “I mean, if the methods you used for picking up all the babes in middle school still work, why change?”  He leant back, half-sitting on the work-bench by Bruce.  His tone became more serious as he continued.  “You know, I’ve dated guys.”

If Tony had been surprised, then Bruce certainly was.

“You – Really?”

“I’ll be honest, I thought you knew, it’s only now occurring to me that we’ve only been close for the part of my life when I’ve been totally devoted and in love with Pepper Potts.  _Before_ this part of my life, well I mean I _was_ a mess, but I did sleep with a lot of different people, and not all of them were women.”  He trailed off.  “And there was also some wizard-man I dated in college.”

Humour overtook Bruce’s shock.

“You dated a wizard?”

“He was a neuroscience major who dabbled in stage magic, he was very sleek, you wouldn’t blame me if you saw him.”  Tony tried to change the subject. “So what happened?  With Thor?  Why did you start getting snappy with me when I asked about him?”

“Nothing happened, we’re fine.  We just haven’t talked much since our date, I guess.”

Pondering for a moment, Tony scanned Bruce’s face. 

“You went out on Peter’s first day at the restaurant, the Thursday before you left town?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Did you tell him you were going to America the day after?”

“No,” Bruce explained.  “I knew my dad was gonna die soon, but I didn’t know it would be on that day.  I tried not to give him, give it much thought.”

Tony gave him a comforting pat on the back. 

“Families can be tough.” 

“You don’t even want to go there, Tony,” Bruce huffed.

“What I’m trying to get at is,” Tony continued. “Well, leaving the country the second after a first date with no warning or explanation is probably not something that’s gonna give Thor a strong impression that you’re into him.  And if the way I actually saw you _smile_ at him the first week of the semester is any evidence, you really are into him.”

Something in Bruce’s head clicked.  _He thought I left because of him._

“Oh.”  Tony raised an eyebrow.  “I should tell him.”  He raised his palm to his temple and looked concerned.  “Do I really seem like a guy I would fly to another country to avoid someone I’d had a bad date with?”

“Didn’t you once fly all the way to visit T’challa’s labs in Wakanda because you were worried that Nat had misinterpreted something you had said as being an attempt at flirting?”

Bruce put his head in his hands. 

“Oh, god,” he muttered against his palm.

Both of them jolted upright as they heard a loud knocking at the door.

Tony shot him a look full of mischief as he shouted his reply.

“Come in, Thor, it’s already open.”

He swung into the room and Bruce felt his heart race as he saw his bright smile, no longer framed with the long hair he’d had on their date, but with short cropped hair with shaved lines he hadn’t has the chance to notice at the gym.

_I’ve got to let him know how I feel._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is anyone straight in this fic? I'm not gonna say no, but like, no-one springs to mind. Maybe Pepper? Idk I think I have too much of a crush on her to write her straight tho.
> 
> Cockburn Street and Fleshmarket Close are really the streets with the shawarma shop on/featured briefly in IW and now the shop has a li'l sign outside it that says "We got destroyed in Infinity War." 
> 
> There's some Anon Gay who commented on chapter 3 who asked for Bruce/Tony interaction and I have finally delivered.
> 
> I adore comments, they make me write five times as fast, and with more passion, and I smile all day after getting them.


	11. Walking in the Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce and Thor finally get to talk alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FINALLY UPDATED!!
> 
> Big thanks to @ragnarokwrites (check out their work! They're awesome on Ao3 and tumblr) and all the lovely folks who have commented enough to push me through this writer's block.

“Come in, Thor, it’s already open.”  Thor heard Tony’s voice from the other side of the door. 

There was a lot to take in as he pushed open the door; the lab was large and full of fancy equipment, experiments and gizmos half of which were alien to Thor.  His eyes scanned the workbenches and walls.  There were a few things he recognised: a beam splitter, a protein model, and what appeared to be a miniature water wave machine, and there were some things that Thor suspected Tony had designed himself.

His roaming eyes fixed when he spotted Bruce sitting next to Tony on the work bench.  Thor felt his breath catch in his throat as he saw Bruce, looking at Thor with an emotion he couldn’t quite place.  He’d tried to keep his thinking so that he only saw Bruce as a colleague, but he couldn’t help how his eyes traced the lines of Bruce’s face, his hair, feeling a pull inside him that just told him he wanted to be close to this man, in any way that Bruce would have him.  _How did I fall so deep?_

The pattering of rain on the sunroof filled the silence before Thor spoke.

“Good morning Stark, Banner.” He smiled as genuine as he could, nodding at each of them in turn but never letting his eyes leave Bruce.

“Hello to you too, Thor,” Tony replied, ignoring Thor’s slight rudeness.  “Welcome to our humble lab.  Well, I guess, not so humble.  I paid for lot of the equipment in here so it’s a bit more cutting edge than most of the university labs.  Which is only fair for our famous polymath professor.”  Tony patted Bruce on the back as he walked around the bench to where a soldering iron was set up.

“It is very impressive.”  Thor finally looked at Tony and gave him a courteous smile.  “I must confess to not knowing what all of the equipment is.”

“Bruce has a bunch of biology stuff I steer clear from.  I made some of the equipment myself, so that wouldn’t look familiar either.  Actually, I was just working on a new stabiliser when you came in, but I seem to have run out of solder.”  He shot Bruce a look that Thor was sure had some sort of hidden meaning.  “I’ll just go a fetch some more, I’m sure Bruce will be happy to keep you entertained while I’m gone.”  There was a particular melody in his voice as he said ‘entertained’ that almost had a teasing tone to it, and Thor felt out of the loop. _Is there something I’m missing here?_

As Tony left the room, Thor walked over to be nearer to Bruce. 

“Hi, Thor.”  Bruce smiled at him as he walked over, but his eyes occasionally darted away from Thor’s, as though he was trying doing his best to keep eye contact but failing a little.  “How have you been?”

“I’ve been well.  My brother has announced that he will be visiting in a couple of weeks, so I will have to prepare for my first visitor.”

“Could be nice to have family over.”  Bruce nodded at him.  “Are you looking forward to it?”

Thor tilted his head, unsure how to answer.

“Him and I do not always see eye to eye, but, yes, it will be nice to see him again.  I do worry about him sometimes.”

Bruce nodded and bit his bottom lip, like he was trying to form his words in his mouth before saying them out loud.

“Er, Thor, I’ve been meaning to tell you something but there hasn’t really been a right time.”  Thor’s mind whirred immediately.  _Could he be telling me why he doesn’t want to go out with me again?_ “After we had our – um, well – our date, I got a call to say that my father had died.  That’s why I wasn’t at the university for a week afterwards, I went back to America for the funeral.” 

Half of Thor’s heart soared and the other plummeted.  He was crushed, sad on Bruce’s behalf and worried that Bruce would forever associate that night with grief, rather than the time that they had spent together.  Still, a small, insistent voice at the back of Thor’s head told him _he didn’t leave because of you.  He could still want you._

“I’m sorry, I should have told you sooner, or texted you when I was there, I just…” Bruce cut off, looking down at his hands.  “It felt like another world over there.”

_He shouldn’t be apologizing.  I’m the one who jumped to conclusions._

Thor took Bruce’s hands in his, gently.

“You have nothing to apologize for, Bruce.  If anything, it is I who should have made an effort to support you through mourning.”

Bruce let out a single humourless laugh. 

“I’m not exactly mourning him Thor, he wasn’t really the best father.  And it would have been tough for you to support me when I didn’t even tell you he died,” he joked.

For a moment, Thor felt a stab of anger to Bruce’s father, wondering what he could have done that would make a kind man like Bruce care so little that he was gone. 

“I wanted to tell you now, so you didn’t think I ran halfway across the world to get away from you.”  Thor could hear an attempt at humour in his tone, but it fell flat as they both knew he wasn’t joking.  “I had a good time with you that night.”  Thor felt himself gravitate towards Bruce as he spoke.  “I had – well – a better time with you than I can remember having with anyone.”  A bashful smile was playing on his lips.  “If you’d like to –“

“Yes.”  Thor didn’t know quite how Bruce was planning on ending his sentence, but if it in anyway involved going out again, he was in.  Bruce’s grin widened.

“You didn’t know what I was going to say.  I could have asked if you wanted to eat our radioactive samples.”

“If that were served as a starter for our next meal together, I still think that it would be worth it.”

“That’s so sappy.”  Bruce sounded as though he enjoyed Thor being cheesy.  “What I was gonna ask was whether you’d like to go out some place soon, get some dinner.”

“Yes,” Thor replied again.  “It would be a pleasure.”

“Okay.”  Bruce looked more bashful than Thor had even seen him.  “Where would you like to –“

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

A notification noise that Thor didn’t recognise came from his phone. 

“Sorry,” Thor excused himself, reluctant to break his conversation with Bruce but wanting to know what the sound was. 

He raised an eyebrow as he read the alert.  His burglar alarm had gone off, having detected and intruder in the house, and had sent an alert to check that it wasn’t him before calling for the emergency services.  It was a surprise to Thor; he rented his flat and hadn’t given it much thought when his landlady had asked him to give his mobile phone number for the system.

Bruce looked expectantly at Thor as his expressions changed as he got up to speed.  Once Thor had explained to him what had happened, they thought it was for the best that Thor make his way home, so they headed out of the fire exit, into the grey weather.

Thor was slightly put-out that his conversation with Bruce had been interrupted, but he was still cheerful; he’d always loved the feel of rain on his skin, the sound of heavy rain, and that combined with what Bruce had said to him had put him in the best mood he’d had in weeks. _He wants to spend time with me.  I didn’t do anything wrong._

By the time they had gotten far enough away from the building that they could have a proper conversation, they’d were soaked enough that Thor wondered if Bruce could see anything though his rain-spotted glasses.

“I’m sorry Bruce, you were interrupted.”

Bruce moved his hair out of his eyes, causing water to drip down his face as he did so.  Thor’s eyes traced the water played across his skin.

“That’s okay, would you – er – would you like me to walk you back home?”

 _My house is an hour’s walk away and he knows full well._   Thor was a little puzzled, but the look in Bruce’s eyes told him that he’d like to spend time with him even if that time spent together was a long walk in the rain.  He felt honoured.

“That would be very kind.”  They started to walk back in the direction of Thor’s house.  “So, I believe you were going to ask me where I wanted to go, the next time we go out together.”  Bruce nodded.  “I still have not seen all that there is to see of Edinburgh, I still haven’t been to any of the museums or walked any of the crags.  Do you have any recommendations?”

“You haven’t been to any of the museums?”  Thor shook his head in confirmation.  “They’re really good, the National Museum of Scotland has a really big science section, it’s got Tim Peake’s capsule that he came back to Earth in, and Dolly the sheep on display.  And that’s really near the Surgeon’s Museums.  They have the largest public display of preserved organs on display in the UK, pickled body parts in jars that have been really helpful for research on how radiation affect the body.”  Suddenly Bruce stopped and snapped out his rambling.  “I’m sorry.”  He held his forehead in his hand.  “You meant for a date.” 

“Don’t worry.”  There was the hint of a chuckle in Thor’s voice as he replied.  “I’m sure that walked past jars of dead people’s organs would make for a very romantic second date.”  Bruce laughed a little as he covered his eyes, embarrassed by his own suggestion.  “And Bruce, you must know that I would enjoy even the most confusing of days out, so long as it is time spent with you.”

Bruce finally allowed himself to look up, walking again, and making proper eye contact with Thor.

“I can come up with a better date idea than that,” he promised.  “You deserve a better time out.”

“Well, I _am_ the reason you are here, walking for miles in the rain.  If anything, I am to repay you.”

Leaving the campus and making there way onto a quitter road, Thor noticed Bruce’s eyes flow over him, as if reading him.  _I suppose it is only fair given how long I have spent looking at him._

“Your hair looks good short,” he finally said.

“Really?”  Thor ran his hand through the spiky, soaked hair on the hack of his head.  It still felt unfamiliar to him.  “I miss having it long.”

“Your looked good with long with long hair, too,” Bruce admitted.  Thor felt a little smug.  “What made you cut it, if you didn’t want it short?”

“Some creepy old man got bubble-gum in it.  I’ve never liked it short before –“ Thor held his hand to Bruce’s arm “- but if it gets the admiration of the only one who’s opinion I care about, I am happy.”

Conversation between the two of them flowed easily as they made their way to the northern side of the city.  The rain continued to fall, and Thor could feel his shoes soak through, but even that hadn’t dampened his mood.  He knew he should be worried about what was going to await him once he got home, but none of his anxieties seemed to stick in his mind, too preoccupied by his companion.

As they made their way down a main road, a car passed at twice the speed it should have been travelling, diving through a puddle and causing a mighty splash in their direction.  The lions share of the water soaked through Thor, who was closer to the road.

Instead of getting angry, Thor just laughed, and Bruce joined him.

“I don’t think I’ve seen anyone who isn’t a toddler enjoy the rain as much as you do,” Bruce said, amused.

“I never stopped loving the rain.  I’ve made a career out of it.” 

Walking back to his home, Thor felt that he should walk fast – they were going back there for an urgent reason after all – but as they got closer, Thor’s walking pace slowed, wanting to spend as much time with Bruce as he could before he would have to deal with something else.  He wished that there would turn out to be some fault with the alarm, so he could invite Bruce in to warm himself up, without having to deal with the police.  If Bruce could come inside, they would have the privacy to talk openly, to touch, to kiss…  _I have to kiss him again,_ Thor swore to himself, elated that the thought was no longer a distant imagining.

The journey could only be stretched so long, however, and it didn’t feel long before they were on Thor’s road, a police van visible outside Thor’s house.

Bruce stayed with him as he introduced himself to the police officer, asking about what had happened.

“We got a call from one of your neighbours at the same time that your alarm went off, telling us that there was a suspicious-looking individual climbing up your drains and trying to break into your window,” the officer explained.  He had a badge on his uniform that called him ‘Happy’ but his expression did not match his name.  “We have him in the back now, slimy-looking guy, says his name’s –“

“Loki,” Thor finished.  He didn’t need to be told to identify the black-clad, glaring person staring at him from the back of the police van to recognise that face.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In between the last chapter and this, I wrote another fic that's set in the same au as this, during the night out that Thor was on a few chapters ago. That fic is Sam/Steve, check it out if you like that ship! It's in the same series so just scroll back through the series at the bottom of this fic to find it. Thor does feature a bit.
> 
> They finally talked!! Loki's here!!
> 
> If you wanna send prompts or chat, I'm @goddessofgamma on tumblr
> 
> love you all, you motivate me so much :)


	12. Loki Has a Certain Image to Maintain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor tries to get Loki out of trouble, and Bruce has some interesting conversations with the two of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, hope you like the new chapter!  
> Check out ellasimone's work, I just commissioned a fic from her and I love all of her stuff, and she's working towards a project at the mo so she could do with some support, just look for @ragnarokdad on Tumblr.

Thor’s brother was lanky and long-haired, his eyes dark and glaring at them both as Thor tried to negotiate with the police officer to let him go.  Bruce was remaining at a respectful distance from it all, not wanting to intrude into something that wasn’t his business.  Watching from a few metres away, Bruce saw Thor get angrier than he’d ever seen before. 

From here, it was difficult to tell whether he was angry at the police or with his brother; Bruce suspected that it was a little bit of both.  Usually Bruce found himself recoiling from people when they were mad, raised voices and harsh tones reminding him a little too much of his father.  _He’s nothing like my father,_ Bruce thought of Thor.  _Even when he’s angry, he’s not threatening_.  The way Thor’s jaw clenched was almost endearing.

After some short words, the officer seemed to agree to release Thor’s brother, unlocking the door of the police van.  Bruce thought that now would be an appropriate time to join them.

“Loki will never do this again.”  Thor was talking to the officer, but his eyes were glaring to his brother.  “It was just a misunderstanding about what time I was due to come home.”

The officer looked wary but undid the handcuffs all the same. 

“I don’t want to hear of any more trouble from you,” he said as he pocketed the handcuffs.  “If it weren’t for your brother here, you would have been spending tonight in a jail cell.” 

“Oh, believe me officer,” Loki smirked.  “You won’t _hear of_ any more trouble from me.”

They remained in silence, no noise but the rain as the officer went to drive away, Bruce giving Thor what he hoped was a reassuring pat on the shoulder.  Bruce was a little sad their walk had ended on such a damper, but what mattered the most him was that Thor wasn’t too distressed by his brother.

“Well, are you going to invite me in?  I know you love playing in puddles, brother, but I have a certain image to maintain.”

“Does that image include breaking into houses and being arrested?” Thor asked, bitterness in his voice but leading the way to his flat nonetheless.

“I thought that you would like the surprise.  I thought it might add some colour to the otherwise bland and grey life you’ve made for yourself.”

“Just because I don’t travel the world with some sugar-daddy twice my age –“

“En Dwi is not my sugar-daddy –“

“- Doesn’t mean I don’t have a good life.  Besides, you don’t wear anything that isn’t black, how would _you_ add any colour to my life?”

Bruce felt out of place, hovering behind the brothers at the door.  He thought about leaving, but he wouldn’t want to go without saying goodbye to Thor, after all the time they had spent together, and with the two of them bickering, it was difficult to get a word in edgeways.

“Who are you, anyway?”  Bruce snapped back to his thoughts as Loki directed a question his way. 

“I’m Bruce Banner, I’m, er, Thor’s coll –“

“Bruce is a wonderful professor at the university, do you remember the research I was telling you about, a few years ago, about positron collisions?”  Loki raised an eyebrow in response.  “He was the lead scientist on that paper.”  Thor clasped Bruce’s shoulder fondly.  “And now we’re friends.”  His eyes scored deep into Bruce’s willing him to know that he hoped that they were more than that.  “But don’t change the subject.  Why are you here early?”

“En Dwi wanted me to come ahead of him to find a hotel that he’d like.  I _had thought_ that you’d be pleased to see me –“

“- I would have been if I hadn’t have had to receive the news that you were here from the police.”

“I’m here now, early and eager to spend some time with my older brother.  Why not be civil and show me some curtesy?”  Thor looked ready to argue back but then Loki continued. “You are entertaining guests, after all.”  He shot a pointed look at Bruce.

“Fine,” Thor conceded through gritted teeth as he finished unlocking his door.  “Would either of you like a drink?”  His voice was halfway towards friendly.

“Spearmint and Fennel tea, make sure you wait until the water is at eighty degrees before you pour it in,” Loki ordered.  Thor huffed at the unnecessary level of detail.

“Bruce?  Could I get you anything?”

“Coffee, if that’s okay.”

“Decaf black, no sugar,” Thor noted, remembering Bruce’s preferences.  Bruce nodded, chuffed that he had remembered.

Thor motioned for Loki to head to the living room, while he stayed back for little while to talk to Bruce.

“I apologize for my brother, and for myself ignoring you,” he said with earnest.

“I don’t mind.”  Bruce tried to put Thor’s mind at ease.  “It’s better that it was just your brother and not someone trying to steal from your house.  And if he hadn’t come, we wouldn’t have had that walk in the rain.”  Thor smiled at that, the water still spilling down his brow.

“I suppose you’re right.  I’ll go get us all some towels.”

He walked into the kitchen, and Bruce heard the kettle a moment later.  Bruce walked into the living room, a little dubious of Loki, who was eying him slyly from the sofa.

“So, you work at the university,” Loki interrogated.

“Yeah.”  Bruce sat down awkwardly on the edge of an armchair.  “Mainly in the physics department, with Thor.”

“But you don’t just work with him do you?”  Loki’s eyes narrowed.  “What exactly are your intentions with my brother?”

Bruce’s mind whirred.  Until an hour prior, his interactions with Thor had been a little distant, but now he wasn’t sure how to describe what was going on between them, much less how to explain that to a disapproving sibling.

“Eh, I don’t know if that’s for me to answer,” was all Bruce could manage.

“I’ll get Thor’s side of it later, but it’s more than obvious that you both are sickeningly infatuated with one another.”  _It is?_

“I… I like him.”  Bruce didn’t know what to say, whether to deny his feelings to Loki, or tell the truth.  He didn’t know whether he could give reassurance that he would treat Thor well: he’d certainly try, but he didn’t have enough confidence in his abilities to say that he’d be a good partner to Thor given that he’d managed to screw up so many of his other relationships.  “I care about him a lot.”

Loki looked at him intently, sussing him out.

“What is it that you like about him?” 

“He’s kind,” Bruce wrung his hands, feeling awkward.  “And smart.  We get along well.”

“That’s it?  I would have hoped that Thor would have chosen someone a little more keen on him.”  Bruce felt his blood heat at that.  He _was_ enthusiastic about Thor, he couldn’t get him off his mind.

“He’s funny, and caring, I’m comfortable around him, he’s enthusiastic.  He’s –“ There were too many words he could use to describe Thor, but Bruce was starting to get embarrassed.  “He’s wonderful.”

Loki gave a hint of a smile.

“Good.  Don’t tell him that – it would go do his head and lord knows he doesn’t need that – but I’m glad someone like him for more than just being good-looking.”  Bruce tried to keep his expression unfazed; he certainly did like Thor’s body, but it wasn’t the only thing about him.  “You don’t seem to be the worst person my brother has ever dragged home, but if it turns out that I have misjudged you, I _will_ ensure you don’t live to hurt him again.”  Bruce had a strong feeling that the threat was genuine.

Before Loki could detail the ways in which he would make Bruce pay, Thor interrupted with their drinks.

“Loki, if I find that you have been threatening Bruce…”

“No threats, brother, just promises.”

They continued conversation, a little lighter than before, as they drank their tea and coffee.  Loki was to stay with Thor for a week before his partner arrived.  Bruce was fairly sure that Loki’s partner was called En Dwi, but he was a bit confused by the two of them occasionally referring to him as ‘the Grandmaster’.  From what he could gather, Loki’s partner was very rich and had the eccentricity to match.

Halfway through his coffee, Bruce checked the time and realised it was only a short time before he had to go to a union meeting.  He’d forgotten entirely that he had things to do today that weren’t Thor-related.

“I’m sorry, Thor, I’ve gotta head off, I’ve got a meeting in half an hour,” Bruce told them, interrupting an in-depth discussion on the many hairstyles Thor had had over the course of his life.

Thor jumped up off of the sofa to see Bruce out.

“I’m glad we’ve been introduced,” said Loki.  “Don’t forget our conversation in a hurry, it was quite enlightening.”  _That’s not a suggestion, that’s a threat,_ Bruce understood.

In the hallway, Thor held Bruce back just as he was about to leave.

“Bruce.”  Thor looked concerned.  “Thank you, for today.  For talking to me honestly.”  Thor held Bruce’s hands in his.  “Keeping me company.” 

“I’m glad I did, Thor.  Spending time with you is…”  He trailed off, not knowing the words, but judging by his smile, Thor took his meaning. 

“Did you mean those things you said to Loki?  About me being kind and smart?”

“You heard that?” Bruce was a little embarrassed, but he nodded.  “I meant it.”

“Talking about me being funny and caring and passionate and wonderful?”  Thor’s grin was getting smugger by the second.  “Yes, I heard you.  I also heard Loki threaten you, don’t worry about him, he’s –“

“- he’s not serious, I know,” Bruce finished.

“Actually, I was going to say that he’s not usually in the country, so you won’t have to worry about it.  Otherwise, I’m not certain, but he may be serious.”

“It’s good that your family looks out for you like that.” 

Thor laughed.

“That’s one way of looking at it.”  He moved his hands to brush Bruce’s wrists, moving up his arms as he spoke.  “I think after all that, I owe _you_ a compliment or two.”  Bruce opened his mouth to object, but Thor continued before he had the chance “You are clever beyond words and have made me feel more welcome than I could have dreamed.  You put me at ease, make me smile.”  Thor drew close as his hands reached Bruce’s clavicles, his voice lowering.  “You are _dashing_ and handsome.”  Bruce would have laughed if he hadn’t been so distracted by Thor’s lips so close to his own. 

“I am?” Bruce spoke quietly, his proximity to Thor making him forget to be self-deprecating. 

Thor leant down, closing the gap between them, pressing his lips to Bruce’s. It was everything Bruce had been wishing for the past weeks, the pressure of Thor’s lips, the scratch of his beard, the scent and taste of him so close. 

The kiss had started softly but as Bruce raised himself up on his tip-toes to get closer, Thor deepened it, carding his fingers through Bruce’s hair and pushing him against the door.  Thor couldn’t help but hum in pleasure.  _How can anyone feel so good?_  Bruce wondered, committing to memory every press of Thor’s muscles, every stroke of his tongue. 

Pulling back, Thor spent a moment breathing, catching his breath, still only an inch from Bruce’s lips.

“Thor,” Bruce breathed, dazed.  His back was still flush against the door.  “Thanks.  I’ve been wanting that since the last time we…” He trailed off.  _Since the last time I kissed you and then ran off._ “Thanks.”

Thor smiled his response. 

“My pleasure.  I’m only sorry you couldn’t stay longer.”  There was a yearning look in his eyes.  “Although perhaps, with my brother around, it is for the best.”

Bruce nodded, stepping away from the door so he would be able to open it. 

“If you have any free time this week, though, I’d like to see you.”

A smug grin grew on Thor’s face.

“I wouldn’t dare waste that opportunity.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! a tonne more was meant to happen in this chapter but it was getting too rushed.
> 
> I really wanna write Loki as genderfluid in some future fics, but, as it is, I'm not confident enough in my understanding of what life is like as a genderfluid person to feel that I can write it accurately. I'd be super happy if someone could message me @goddessofgamma on tumblr to help me in the future, though, my cousin just came out as genderfluid and I'd really like to support the community in anyway I can.

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who's loving living in Edinburgh. That's right, it's me.
> 
> Edinburgh Waverley is the station where Vision, Wanda, Steve, Sam and Nat fight aliens in Infinity War
> 
> I love comments, especially if you want me to continue and want to offer me some direction for where you want this to go.


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